There are 1344 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List in the United States. Forty-eight additional sites have been proposed for entry on the list. For years activists have worked to draw attention to the Westlake Landfill, in MO, a superfund site, that encases a radioactive fire that is currently burning underground. The radioactive Superfund site has sat in the middle of a St. Louis Community for over 45 years leaving surface level radioactive waste to blow and be subject to all the elements.
Presently, the Westlake Landfill is experiencing an active fire deep underground. It causes waste to decompose at an accelerated rate, producing excess gas and liquid. This results in a pungent odor byproduct of this gas and liquid.
The Westlake Landfill sits in the floodplain of the Missouri River where radioactive contaminants (from the landfill?) are spreading into other neighboring communities along the river. The waste was created during World War II, when St. Louis-based Mallinckrodt Chemical Works purified all the uranium for the first nuclear weapons. The waste was eventually purchased by Cotter Corporation, then illegally dumped in north St. Louis County in 1973
The EPA classified it as a Superfund Site–a classification only given to the most polluted sites in the U.S.-- and put it on the National Priority List in 1992 30 years ago. Since then residents most impacted by the toxic waste site have organized to demand government action.
In 2018 the EPA declared plans to remove a majority of the radioactive material and ensure the safety of the surrounding community. The clean up plan intended to remove contamination by digging out waste at varying depths between 8 and 20 feet below the surface, depending on the amount of radioactivity that exists at each location.
Concerned residents continue to urge the EPA to revise and adjust their clean up plan to include the river and surrounding areas. Unhealthy levels of radium and other radioactive material remain despite these clean up efforts, resulting in constant exposure for the soil and the people living closest to the site, increasing their chances of developing lung cancers, lupus, asthma, and tumors. Advocates continue to urge the EPA to continue to clean the superfund site and make revisions to their clean up plan that take into account data reflecting current radioactive levels.
Our guest joining Sojourner Truth Radio today is Dawn Chapman, a resident who lives near the landfill who will tell us what the
EPA has done this far; the impacts of contamination on her community and discuss her ongoing advocacy work to push the EPA to clean up the West Lake site.
Dawn Chapman, runs non-profit organization “Just Moms STL, (St. Louis) working in tandem with co-founder Karen Nickel. Just Moms is an advocacy group formed with the goal of raising awareness and community engagement regarding the nearby West Lake Landfill Superfund site. Living mere miles from the landfill, Dawn became engaged in this effort in 2013 after contacting the MO Dept of Natural Resources regarding pungent odors. That call lead Dawn on an unlikely journey from housewife and mother of three to becoming an advocate, a repository of knowledge and history about this site, and even a mentor to people dealing with the impact of other Superfund sites on their own communities across the country. Dawn has collaborated with and advised local, state and federal agencies, media organizations, and both locally affected community members as well as passionate environmental advocates worldwide. She has presented to groups as widely varied as high school and college classes, church and municipal groups, the MO State Legislature, all the way up to appearing before the United Nations Human Rights and Environmental Justice division. She was also invited to present to the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Her story is documented in the HBO Documentary: Atomic Homefront.
